[AthenaDX]

Honestly, I think a flying car would be a terrible thing considering how bad drivers are on the ground. Throw them in a 3D world and they're either dangerously scary or better do to all the open space. :3

Anyways, I watched back to the future yesterday and got to thinking about all the stuff I thought would be coming out already. Hell, I figured self-driving cars would be a thing, at the very least. Though Google is working on it at least. Also, there are things I didn't even think about at all that now exist. Such as the internet and 3D tvs without glasses.

So, have any of you come across some interesting tech, medicine, or anything really that surprized you or is something you had been waiting for and finally came out? I'm watching with held breath as they work more on organ replacements with tech, hoping for a cyborg somewhere in my lifetime.

This post is totally not due to my procrastination of my project nor due to being stuck in the office on my lunch break.

[supersloth]

expectations are a bitch.

also, drivers already drive in 3d.

of all the back to the future gadgetry, i'd settle for those self lacing nike's (like in the movie, not those bastardized versions they released for charity last year)

[AthenaDX]

Yah, I got really excited whenever someone was first speaking about those shoes till I saw pictures of them. Disappointed me greatly.

Err, I know it's 3D, just not sure how else to describe it.

[supersloth]

'flying' really covers all the bases. 'vertically' will do in a pinch.

[jon.kiparsky]

Cars fly now. Vertically, even. There's just more "down" than "up", and you can't do quite as much steering as you're really like while you're doing the flying part.

Also, the landings are a bitch.

AthenaDX, on 09 January 2013 - 12:25 PM, said:

Hell, I figured self-driving cars would be a thing, at the very least. Though Google is working on it at least.

"I know, put a bunch of cars on the road, controlled by computers. What could possibly go wrong?"

This post has been edited by jon.kiparsky: 09 January 2013 - 12:48 PM

[modi123_1]

Quote

Also, the landings are a bitch.

I heard a sperm whale described it the same way after it through the ground wanted to be friends.

[AnalyticLunatic]

I can see the next virus infecting navigation systems, making them immediately swerve to the left once the vehicle crosses 60mph. Chaos will ensue. If you can't trust your car, who can you trust?

[Craig328]

Can you imagine how different a place the world would be if every vehicle and house was powered by a Mr. Fusion?



Think on it a moment. No imported oil. No electric grid. No power companies. Greatly reduced pollution. Lot of geopolitical tensions disappear. The third world gets to lift itself out of craphole status a lot easier.

Just one invention.

[modi123_1]

Except it still ran on gas.

Quote

In Back to the Future Part III, Doc confirms that the fusion device only powered the flux capacitor and the time circuits, and that the DeLorean time machine still had an internal combustion engine that ran on gasoline.

In the novelization, Doc has to take care in 2015 to keep the DeLorean obscured, citing that many of his modifications – specifically the installation of a Mr. Fusion Home Energy Reactor – are not exactly considered "street legal".

http://backtothefutu...wiki/Mr._Fusion

[supersloth]

fuck the novelizations.

[AnalyticLunatic]

supersloth, on 09 January 2013 - 01:22 PM, said:

fuck the novelizations.

Careful you don't get a papercut

[supersloth]

i always use lube.

(lucky for gabehabe)

(probably unnecessary, it was like throwing a pool noodle into the grand canyon)

[Martyr2]

This topic reminds me of this time I slipped on the toilet and hit my head. That is when I thought of the flux.... ah shit, they stole my invention!

That will teach me to sit on an idea.

[Craig328]

modi123_1, on 09 January 2013 - 03:19 PM, said:

Except it still ran on gas.

Quote

In Back to the Future Part III, Doc confirms that the fusion device only powered the flux capacitor and the time circuits, and that the DeLorean time machine still had an internal combustion engine that ran on gasoline.

In the novelization, Doc has to take care in 2015 to keep the DeLorean obscured, citing that many of his modifications – specifically the installation of a Mr. Fusion Home Energy Reactor – are not exactly considered "street legal".

http://backtothefutu...wiki/Mr._Fusion

It ran on gas but I'd hazard a guess that since it was replacing the external lightning source for the required 1.21 Gigawatts to power the time machine, that a Mr. Fusion prolly could replace the internal combustion engine of a car. Its not like the Nissan Leaf couldn't find or make room for a Mr. Fusion so as to obviate the need for a recharging port or recharge stations for that matter and that vehicle runs entirely on electricity.

That is to say that it ran on gas...but likely didn't have to due to any delivery deficiency in a device that can produce 1.21 gigawatts in a stored charge. By way of comparison, your typical nuclear power plant can produce anywhere from 1100 to 1600 megawatts...or around 1/1000th of the Mr. Fusion and a Nissan Leaf needs around 765 kilojoules per kilometre of travel or about 12750 watts. Quick math sez that if a Leaf had a Mr. Fusion that could supply 1.21 gigawatts, the Leaf could travel for around 95,000 miles on that one charge.

This post has been edited by Craig328: 09 January 2013 - 01:42 PM

[modi123_1]

I am pretty sure the future brainiacs of the far flung future of 2015 would have tried that.. duh.. and it *still* ran on gasoline.